There are four sites near downtown that could accommodate a new ballpark. We like the Farmers Market best. photography by Leonello Calvetti

Why The Texas Rangers Should Move to Dallas

A downtown ballpark with a retractable roof could pay for itself.

By Bethany AndersonFrom D Magazine August 2011There are four sites near downtown that could accommodate a new ballpark. We like the Farmers Market best. photography by Leonello Calvetti

A hypothetical: someone offers you two free tickets to a Rangers day game on a Saturday. They are decent but not great seats in the lower level. No parking pass. Do you accept? Our guess is that you don’t for two reasons: 1) It’s hot. 2) You don’t want to drive to Arlington.

That’s why the Rangers should build a retractable-roof stadium near downtown Dallas. The weather and especially the lousy location of their ballpark are costing them millions.

Now let’s do some back-of-the-envelope math. Average attendance at Rangers Ballpark from 2005 to 2009 (ignoring last year’s outlier World Series-inflated figures) is 28,545. The stadium’s capacity is 49,170. That’s 20,625 unsold tickets per game. Figure an average ticket costs $14. That’s $288,750 per game in lost ticket revenue. With parking ($51,562), concessions ($309, 375), and souvenirs ($309,375), the average per-game loss in revenue is more than $1 million. In five years, then, the Rangers have left $405 million on the table (81 home games times $1 million times five years).

What would it cost to move the team to Dallas if an agreement was reached in 2012? Say a domed stadium could be built for $600 million, with the city picking up half that cost (yes, we’re dreamers). The Rangers need $300 million for the building. But they also need to get out of their Arlington commitment. To break their lease, it would likely take $2 million per contract year left, plus $1 million per year toward the $14 million the team owes for land acquisition costs. If it takes two to three years to build a new ballpark, the remaining obligation would be about $31 million. Total cost: $331 million.

In five years, with the additional revenue generated by Dallas fans not turned off by the weather and the long drive, the new stadium would pay for itself.